The older I get, the more I realise how much I took having money for granted when I was younger. Sure, I didn’t need much as a teenager apart from my laptop connected to wifi and a phone with enough credit on it to text my friends. I never had to worry about food in the fridge or calculating if I had enough in my bank account to pay for electricity. Oh boy, those were the days. As soon as my uni days started I was considering selling my kidneys on the dark web to afford some sort of food that wasn’t instant noodles third month in a row. Since then I’ve come up with many ideas about how to earn extra money that doesn’t require putting in a lot of effort. That way you can have your cake and eat it. Most of the time without leaving your bed.

Babysitting

I don’t mean the type of babysitting that requires you to sit with three kids as their parents head of to work for the day, although that is a source of some good income if you’re into it. But if you’re not really into playing and painting all day, you can always help out parents who are in desperate need to go out and have a child-free evening. All you have to do is put the kids to sleep, eventually read a story or two and then you have a whole evening to yourself to watch TV, catch up on uni work or simply have a glorious sleep on the couch. Some families offer you their spare bedroom if parents know they’ll be out late so really it’s like going to a hotel for one night but you’re also getting paid for it.

If you’re lucky, parents will feel a bit guilty about skipping their children’s bedtime routine so they will ask you to come after the kids are asleep. In that case, you don’t even have to worry about anything apart from what snacks you’re going to bring with you or what you’re going to do for that 3-4h. And let me tell you, I have built some incredible houses on the Sims when I used to babysit in the evenings with no one to tell me that ‘I’ve been playing this game for hours’. Use this gift.

Budgeting

Right, so budgeting doesn’t necessarily mean MAKING money. But it still gives you some extra money on the side which you can invest in your holiday, a car or a really amazing night out. It does require a bit more sacrifices though. Like skipping your daily Costa coffee visits and putting the money you’d normally spend on a latte aside. Or doing without that new lipstick that everyone has been raving about. Cutting down your snack intake. Buying food that’s shop branded instead of popular brands which tend to be more expensive. Walking more instead of taking a bus or switching from Uber to public transport. A bike works just as well and it’s good for fitness. There are many more ways in which you can budget, so take out a pen and paper and write down your ideas! The possibilities are endless.

Dog walking

Dogs and money combined together. What’s not to love? It may not be the most glamorous job with all the poo picking, but you get to play around with cute pups for a few hours. There are many elderly people who can’t offer their dogs a good run every day and families who need some help juggling work, school runs as well as pets so you will surely find someone who will happily offer you some pocket money to make their furry friends happier. It’s a great idea especially if you love dogs but can’t afford to get one or don’t live in a place where you could house a pet as you’re still getting the love and cuddles you want so much.

Online surveys

There is a really big collection of websites on the good ol’ Internet that will pay you money to fill in surveys. Very often it’s not a lot and you will need a certain amount of points or credit to withdraw that money but if you’re persistent you can find a couple of good ones. My boyfriend made nearly £10 in 2 weeks after filling in surveys every day. It’s not a big injection of cash, but it’s still a bit of extra money to put in your piggy bank.

If you’re interested in earning a bit more, I know a crazy amount of people who went mad for this one app called HQ. HQ offers a £1000 to people who win their daily general knowledge quiz and on Sunday they have bigger prizes. To win you have to answer correctly all 12 questions and share the money with the people who won as well. Now, I don’t personally know anyone who won or if anyone actually got their money, but it’s good fun to do with your friends and family.

Wantfeed

This might be my favourite discovery yet. Because you can get paid to WANT stuff. You don’t even have to buy it, if you find something that you really lust for, you can earn money from it. The idea came from the amazing Stef Michalak who took affiliate links to another level. He created a website where people can share links to things they find interesting/beautiful/trendy etc., turn it into affiliate links and then earn money from every item bought using the said link. Sounds pretty good right? All you need is to create an account, find some people to follow and start sharing what you’d love to buy! It’s a great idea to share your account link with your friends and family before your birthday/Christmas – that way you get exactly what you love AND you get money for it. Genious. You can check out the website here.

We’ve all been through times when the bank account is literally screaming at us for spending so much but there’s still rent to pay or food shopping to do. The good news is there are always little ways to make some more money here and there. The bad news is that it does require at least a tiny bit of time and effort but if there’s a will, there’s a way, right? At least that’s what my grandma used to say.

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I'm a 24-year-old girl trying to find her feet in this world, mostly by being clumsy, saying things I shouldn't say and getting in trouble. Just your typical millenial rambling about beauty hacks that can save us all time, life tricks for easy university life and most random things you can think of. My brain is weird. More...